List Of Constellations

from the dawn of recorded history, people observed the sky and grouped stars into patterns or constellations[citation needed] . Each culture had its own constellations, usually based on mythology. Most of these are very hard to identify when you look at them without the lines, but some are very obvious.The ancient Greeks originated many constellations that are still in use today, many of which were recorded by Ptolemy. However they left many gaps in the sky where there was a lack of bright stars; also, they could not observe stars that were in the far southern hemisphere of the sky. European explorers mapped the stars of the southern skies, and various astronomers proposed new constellations to fill the gaps. Some new constellations caught on, while others did not.

^ ‘Quad’ designates the quadrant of the sky where N for North is associated to a positive Declination, and S for South for a negative one. Quadrants refer to 6 hours arcs, so that NQ1 refers to North quadrant constellations having midpoints between 00h R.A. and 06h R.A.

Various other unofficial patterns have existed alongside the constellations. These are known as “asterisms.” Examples include the Big Dipper and the Northern Cross. Some ancient asterisms, for example Coma Berenices, Serpens, and portions of Argo Navis, are now officially constellations.